Bolsonaro asks Petrobras to cut fuel prices after falling oil prices

President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) said this Tuesday (15th) that “with all certainty” Petrobras will reduce the price of fuels, charging the company an adjustment in values ​​in the face of the fall in the price of oil in the global markets in recent days.

“We are hearing that in recent days the price of oil abroad has dropped a lot. We expect Petrobras to follow the price drop abroad. It will certainly do that there”, he said, during a ceremony at the Planalto Palace.

In another part of the speech, the Chief Executive joked: “I hope that our dear Petrobras, who was very sensitive in not giving us one day [para anunciar o aumento]it returns, as it did last week, the price of fuel in Brazil.”

Earlier, in an interview with TV Ponta Negra, from Rio Grande do Norte, the president had already criticized Petrobras. “The price of fuel in Brazil is priceless and unfortunately Petrobras does not collaborate with anything”, said the president.

After the price of a barrel of oil reached US$ 140, Petrobras announced on Thursday (10) a mega-increase of 24.9% in diesel and 18.8% in gasoline. Prices were unchanged since January 12.

The announcement of the mega-increase took place on the same day as the vote on the tax package to try to contain fuel prices. If, on the one hand, the increase increased the sense of urgency of parliamentarians, on the other hand, it contradicted Bolsonaro, who wanted to have a previous solution in his sleeve for the rise in bombs.

Now, the pressure exerted by the price of a barrel of oil has reversed. The rise in Covid-19 cases in China, which threatens the growth prospects of the world’s second-largest economy, and ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine have pushed the price below $100 on Tuesday.

Like Bolsonaro, ministers from the political wing also believe that the company should review the readjustment, given the new oil scenario in the international market.

Since the weekend, the president has intensified his criticism of the state-owned company. He even said that she is not sensitive to the population, after announcing the mega-increase in fuel prices, due to the conflict in Europe.

Bolsonaro wanted the state-owned company to wait for the vote on the bill in Congress that would zero the federal tax on PIS/Cofins on diesel and cooking gas. The text was sanctioned on Friday night.

The Chief Executive said he went to a gas station and questioned the attendant about the increase in the price of diesel, used by truck drivers.

As he told in the speech, he was informed that the liter increased by just over R$ 0.90 – the president says that the approved measure would reduce the value at the pump by R$ 0.60.

“For one day, if Petrobras had waited, we would have had a 30% increase in diesel, not R$0.90,” he said.

Bolsonaro’s statements were made during the signing ceremony of two provisional measures aimed at agribusiness and a decree.

One of the texts creates the new framework for securitization, while the other measure deals with rural guarantees.

The government also issued a decree that reduces to zero, until 2028, the rates of IOF (Tax on Credit, Exchange and Insurance Operations, or related to Bonds or Securities) levied on exchange operations.

Second placed in the polls for the election to the presidency this year, Bolsonaro has intensified the agenda with sectors considered essential for the maintenance of his government, such as agribusiness.

The reduction of the rates will be done in a staggered way. “The objective is to align Brazil with the provisions of the OECD’s Capital Liberalization Code (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), to which we are in the process of adhering”, said the Economy in a note.

Paulo Guedes’ portfolio also informed that the new legal framework will establish rules for the securitization of credit rights (credits that a company has to receive and that work as debts converted into bonds) and for the issuance of receivables certificates (securities that generate credit right).

“In addition, the MP provides for the issuance of Letters of Insurance Risks (LRS) and the easing of the requirement for exclusive provision, by a financial institution, of the bookkeeping and custody service of securities”, said the Economy.

The proposal on rural guarantees improves the rules of electronic signature in book-entry CPR (Rural Product Certificate) and in endorsements and records of guarantees linked to these notes.